Michele Paduano
Health correspondent, BBC Midlands Today

There's been a significant rise in the number of people dying from sepsis in the West Midlands, figures show.

Across the West Midlands, about 120 more people are dying than in 2013.

Experts believe it's partly due to antibiotic resistance and although e-coli mainly affects the very young and the very old, it is striking healthy people in the community.

You can see my full report on Midlands Today at 18:30 on BBC One.

Leicester's Kyle Eastmond and Worcester's Chris Pennell face hearings after citings in Saturday's Premiership games.

We've got a chilly night to come under long clear spells with just a patch of cloud and lows of 0C (32F).

An adaptation of David Walliams' book The Midnight Gang is to be shown at a special preview screening in Birmingham ahead of its Christmas outing on BBC One.

As well as a sneak peek, families will also be able to walk the red carpet and pose for photos with famous props from some of the BBC’s biggest shows.

You can apply for the Birmingham Town Hall screening, which takes place on 18 December, here.

Craig Lewis
BBC News

Birmingham Royal Ballet hosts community schemes to give children a chance to perform with professionals.

One has seen schoolboys selected to take part in its Christmas production of The Nutcracker.

After rehearsals, the performances in front of nearly 2,000 people are under way - making parents proud, the boys say.

Tom Edwards
Reporter, BBC Hereford & Worcester

A nightclub owner has been cleared of sexual assault and drugs charges by a jury today.

Today the jury at Warwickshire Justice Centre found the 52-year-old guilty of possessing class A drugs after police entered his former home in Fernhill Heath back in January 2017.

But the jury cleared Mr Pinches, of Bromyard Road, of the charges of sexual assault and possessing and supplying cocaine.

It is still deliberating over one other charge of offering to supply cocaine, which he denies, and will resume tomorrow.

A train operator blames storm damage for a reduction in the number of rush hour carriages.

Local Democracy Reporting Service
Gurdip Thandi

Ambitious plans to bring rail services back to Aldridge for the first time in more than half a century have been given a boost.

West Midlands Mayor Andy Street said initial feasibility work had revealed that opening up a new single platform station in the town was possible.

The proposal is part of wider plans to enhance rail in the borough including the reintroduction of a direct Walsall to Wolverhampton service and opening new stations in Willenhall and Darlaston.

Aldridge Station originally closed in 1965 and residents and businesses have long campaigned for it to return.

Samantha Eastwood and Michael Stirling had been having a three-year affair before he murdered her, a court heard.

Married landscape gardener Stirling, who is the brother-in-law of Ms Eastwood's ex-fiancé John Peake, showed no emotion during his sentencing today at Stafford Crown Court.

Image source, PA

Staffordshire Police said the affair , externalwas "full-on and intimate" and it was normal for the 32-year-old, from Stoke-on-Trent, to visit Ms Eastwood after her night shifts at the Royal Stoke University Hospital.

Before he killed her, Stirling's wife Katie wasn't aware of the affair and only found out when the murder inquiry ended.

At one point, Stirling told his wife he was helping to search for the then-missing midwife when he was in reality burying her body.

Primary school league tables show pupils with special needs are dropping further behind their classmates.

Michael Stirling, who's been jailed today for the murder of Samantha Eastwood, came under suspicion "very quickly", according to the police officer who led the investigation into her death., external

Image source, PA

Ms Eastwood was last seen in uniform leaving work at Royal Stoke University Hospital on the morning of 27 July.

Her body was discovered at a disused quarry on 5 August wrapped in a duvet cover with tape covering her eyes and mouth.

Det Insp Dan Ison, of Staffordshire Police, says officers suspected him from very early on as he was the last person to see her alive.

The sister of Samantha Eastwood says her death means she has lost her mentor and best friend.

Image source, Family handout

Gemma Eastwood read out a victim personal statement at the sentencing at Stafford Crown Court today.

In it, she said she and Samantha "had big plans for the future", including visiting New York and Lapland, and she now struggled to sleep, eat and hasn't been able to properly return to work.

Today, Michael Stirling, 32, from Stoke-on-Trent, was jailed for life and told he'd serve a minimum of 17 years in prison.

27 July - 07:45 - Samantha Eastwood last seen alive, leaving the Royal Stoke University Hospital

27 July - about 19:20 - Colleagues become concerned when she doesn't turn up for her shift

30 July - Police launch appeal for information after her disappearance

1 August - Police release CCTV of Ms Eastwood leaving work with a female colleague, before driving off alone in her Volvo XC60

3 August - Her sister, Gemma Eastwood, makes a tearful appeal, saying her family needs her home "where she belongs"

Image source, PA

4 August - Search by police sees officers combing rural areas of Staffordshire and cordoning off parts of Caverswall village

4 August - Later the same day, detectives reveal they have found a body and arrested a 32-year-old man on suspicion of murder

8 August - Michael Stirling, 32, of Gratton Road, Stoke-on-Trent, appears at Stafford Crown Court where it's revealed Ms Eastwood was found in a shallow grave

22 October - Stirling pleads guilty to murdering the midwife after a "longstanding" affair

3 December - Stirling jailed for life at Stafford Crown Court

Video is released of murderer Michael Stirling being interviewed by Staffordshire Police.

Samantha Eastwood took part in a charity skydive four weeks before she was killed.

Police said Samantha Eastwood's murderer Michael Stirling also played the 'ever helpful person'.

In sentencing Michael Stirling today for the murder of Samantha Eastwood, judge Hon Mrs Justice Sue Carr said he had "lied over and over again".

Image source, PA/Staffordshire Police

After killing Ms Eastwood, the 32-year-old from Stoke-on-Trent buried her in a shallow grave and sent text messages from her phone to her sister, making out she was still alive.

The judge called it a "sophisticated and mendacious cover-up" for days afterwards, adding that it caused her family additional distress and trauma.

She said the minimum term would have been 20 years but, taking into credit his guilty plea, reduced it to 17 years, 52 days.

An MP calls for a tougher system of regulation amid public order concerns.

Michael Stirling, who's been jailed for life today for the murder of Samantha Eastwood, admitted killing her in a "rage" at her home.

Image source, Staffordshire Police

The 32-year-old, from Gratton Road, Bucknall, Stoke-on-Trent, pleaded guilty to her murder following a "long-standing" affair.

Her body was discovered in a shallow grave in Caverswall, wrapped in a duvet cover with tape covering her eyes and mouth, eight days after she disappeared.

Stirling's barrister had told the judge today that the killing wasn't premeditated but followed "growing tension" between the couple, leading to a row at her home in Stoke-on-Trent.

The defendant flew into an "intense rage", suffocating and strangling her before "panicking" and burying the body at a disused quarry.

Allen Cook
BBC News

A man has been jailed for at least 17 years after admitting murdering a midwife following a "long-standing" affair.

Image source, Staffordshire Police

The body of Samantha Eastwood, 28, was found in a shallow grave in Caverswall, Staffordshire, in August, eight days after she went missing.

Michael Stirling, 32, the brother-in-law of her ex-fiance John Peake, pleaded guilty to her murder in October.